An array of Democratic signs in the headquarters of the local Democratic Party in Hobbs, N.M., pictured in mid-September. In the vast 2nd congressional district, just one precinct has voted for the eventual CD2 winner each time since 2014, after this week’s election result. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM)
Heading into the 2024 General Election, three precincts across the vast 2nd Congressional District had the unusual distinction of voting for the eventual winner of the hotly contested seat every election for the last decade.
Now that the dust has settled and a winner declared, only one such precinct remains: Valencia County’s Precinct 39, which went for Rep. Gabe Vasquez, a Democrat who was reelected this week .
Of 548 precincts that stayed in CD2 through redistricting in 2021, three of them voted for the winning candidate in each election since 2014. They did so even though CD2 has flipped parties four times in the last five elections.
Since 2014, CD2 has gone from Republican Steve Pearce, who was re-elected in 2016, to Democrat Xochitl Torres-Small in 2018, to Republican Yvette Herrell in 2020, to Vasquez, the Democrat elected in 2022 and this year.